Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Adjournment

Country Fire Authority funding

Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (19:06): (1151) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Emergency Services, and the action I seek is for the government to finally fund the Foster and Mirboo North fire stations. I say this in the obvious context of what has happened today both in the budget and in the protests on the front steps of Parliament, where thousands and thousands of people came out to quite rightly condemn the government for its emergency services tax. Now that the government has got the emergency services tax through, where is the support for CFA stations and fire trucks?

I picked up the budget papers today, and there is certainly no reference to Foster or Mirboo North, which we have been campaigning on for years. Indeed the CFA itself funded both of these stations, along with Yarram, out of its capital program ahead of the 2022 election. Subsequently that money has gone missing.

I raise that as well in the context that budget paper 3 outlines some money for CFA stations today, under ‘Building more Country Fire Authority stations’ – this is on page 78 of budget paper 3 – and it lists a footnote to that:

This includes funding provided to complete stations at Dartmoor, Leitchville, Kinglake West, Raywood and Yarram.

Well, Yarram had already been funded, so why is there now more funding required for it? More particularly, when I read what this actual funding is about, it includes funding to deliver a number of CFA stations, including Hoddles Creek and Winnindoo. It was announced in the COVID budget in 2020 that the government was going to build a new station for Winnindoo. Here we are 5½ years later and it still has not been completed, and they are reannouncing it in this year’s budget, which I am sure Ton and the Winnindoo brigade will be very excited about, but they have been waiting for a long time.

More particularly, so have the Foster and Mirboo North brigades. Dave Jones at Foster has just about torn his hair out, but they have actually got land. There is now a lease agreement with VicTrack for a site. Mirboo North is still I think looking for a site, because CFA went ahead and bought one that did not actually suit, so that is still an issue. We actually need the funding to rebuild these fire stations, both of which are so small that there are bits of bricks missing from the sides of the buildings because the trucks are too big. The stations are actually restricted in getting certain trucks, because they are too big for the stations that they have got, and it is a safety issue where there is not enough space for the volunteers to get changed while trucks are backing in and out. Foster and Mirboo North have been waiting for too long. If the government is genuine about supporting our CFA and our fire services, this is where we need to see some of the rubber hitting the road. These stations should be funded.